Solebury Orchards

I may be biased, but I don't think there is anyplace more exciting in the fall than Pennsylvania with its crisp air, numerous local farms and historic residences set against colored foliage. We have been enjoying the fall so much lately; I think Ben would be outside 24 hours a day if we let him and now that it is no longer 100 degrees outside we've been spending more time outdoors.

This morning one of the playgroups we're in decided to go to a local farm to go apple picking. So, we drove out to Bucks county and visited Solebury Orchards for some exploring. The kids LOVED it and got the biggest kick out of seeing the gigantic pumpkins and picking their own apples. Once we got home, Ben and I ate some of our fresh picks for lunch - yummy!

We arrived a bit earlier than everyone else, so Ben had a chance to explore the grounds on his own at first. He loved seeing (and trying to touch!) all of the fresh produce in the little shop but especially loved playing amongst the pumpkins. We'll be going later in the season to pick our own pumpkin so we didn't bring one home but Ben certainly enjoyed climbing on them.



Once everyone got there, we ventured out into the orchards to pick some empire apples. Of course it took us longer than usual to walk to our destination since the toddlers kept getting a case of ADD and fleeing in various directions. The stray cat that they spotted distracted everyone for a good 5 minutes! But we finally got to the orchard and started to pick some apples...

Ben pulling one off the tree. I can't stress enough how exciting finally getting one off the tree and getting to throw it into the basket was!! :)



Looking at his find before throwing it into the bucket. Ben actually preferred to hurl it into the bucket with full force but these apples are so fresh that none of them even ended up bruised. He has quite an arm on him when we play catch. There may be a baseball scholarship in his future...

Into the bucket!

Caroline finds an apple low on the tree and is pointing it out for us, just in case we didn't see it :)


Here, Olivia guards her basket of apples.


Ben and Caroline obsessed with taking apples out of the baskets and throwing them back in. We had to watch to make sure they didn't put any of the "yuckies" ones from the ground into the basket (or try to bite into them!).


Julia looking through her basket and counting her apples...

Olivia taking a bite out of one of her picks, with mom Kiera.

Julia with mom Nicole looking at their apples...

Caroline with her mom Roberta taking a break...


Finally, a photo of me and Ben. This one is a tribute to Aunt Cinty...see, I actually do take some photos where Ben isn't smiling :). Too much excitement leaves Ben feeling overstimulated sometimes so after an hour of running around, Ben started to crash. I bought some fresh apple cider in the store for the car ride home and that seemed to revive him :).

Just before leaving, the highlight of Ben's entire morning...seeing the tractor ride go past! There was an organized tour there today so we weren't able to get on one but we'll have to go back since the kiddies would love this, I think.